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finally found a transmission

well i spent 4 hours at the junkyard yesterday, and there was several e82 cars but only 1 of them was 4wd and it was some sporty model, but at the very end of the row was an 81 wagon gl, the shift linkage felt much more posetive than mine and it looked like a close match only 100k too, after pulling loose almost everything for some reason i left the linkage for almost last, thats when i discoverd the t- case only had one click up (single speed) my brat has a 2 speed, unless theres something wrong with it, i thought the gl ment it was a dual range? i also grabbed the front bumper grill few nice trim peices and everything that touched the trans except the clutch and clutch cable i may go back for the carb and cable
anyways im gunna get my trans out soon and put them next to eachother see if it would be good to swap the t-cases otherwise im just gunna keep my finger crossed
i was kinda getting excited about having over drive but oh well for now
thanks guys
-Sam

If it's a single range, you can't "make" it a dual range by swapping the t-case. The low range gearset is inside the transmisson not the t-case (it has to be - the gear reduction must take place prior to the split between the front and rear diff, and the front diff is inside the tranny.... the low range by-pass is actually done before anything else in the power-flow of the tranny. It's the first driven gear right above the input shaft), and has a seperate shift linkage that's combined with the 4WD . The single range will not even have the holes in the main transmission machined for the shift rod.

Basically, if it's a single range you are stuck with it. Unless you want to tear both tranny's apart and use the single range parts to repair your dual range.

Also on the subject of over-drive - the 4 speed's 4th gear IS overdrive. The 4th gear in the 4 speed and the 5th gear in the 5 speed are nearly the same for the 83+ 4 speed, and only slightly higher in the 81/82 4 speed. The 5 speed has more "in-between" gears that make slow speed travel, and acceleration easier. With the 5 speed it's actually nice to drive in 3rd gear at 25 mph where the 4 either revs out in 2 or lugs in 3...

dont matter, im too excited to screw with it i gotta get a clutch and a couple of seals and its going in
I find it hard to belive that fourth gear is as tall as fifth on the five speed, i know some of the older americans had 3-o.d.'s but maybe any thing with a final drive less than 1:1 is considerd over drive, in a car with 13" tires and , 3.92 or 4.10 gears or what ever it has (sorry cast iron american has always been my thing) it might be needed to use the freeways.
what is the axle ratio in my brat anyways i looked but didnt see a tag or stamp anywhere?
thanks again GD
-Sam

So as you can see there's not a lot of difference, and *by definition* overdrive means the output speed is faster than the input. Anything that's higher than 1:1 is overdrive. In fact, the 83+ 4 speed is *taller* than the 5 speed. Also the 5 speed technically has two overdrive gears as both 4th and 5th are taller than 1:1.